INDIANAPOLIS – The 500 Festival announced today that the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon will institute a wave start for the 2014 race, creating a more efficient and safer running and walking experience for participants in the 38^th running of the nation’s largest half marathon. This year’s race will be held on Saturday, May 3 in downtown Indianapolis.

A wave start breaks up the start line for participants into five separate groups, with five corresponding starts. The corral system will continue to be utilized as in previous years, which will assign participants based on their estimated finish times. Each group will consist of five to six corrals. As in previous years, the Mini-Marathon will utilize the Chronotrack bib timing device. This means that a participant’s time does not begin until they cross the timing mats at the start line, so the wave start will not impact your overall time. The Mini-Marathon has a field size of approximately 35,000 official entrants. The wave start will not increase the field size of the field.

Benefits of a wave start include:

• A more enjoyable experience for participants including less congestion from start to finish
• Participants will be able to arrive later and have more time to enter their corrals than previous years
• Reduction in density of participants at the start line, finish line and throughout the course, allowing for easier access for safety and medical personnel as well as race officials
• More participants will be able to experience the “start” of the Mini-Marathon

Additional Q & A’s can be found on the 500 Festival website by clicking here.

“We continue to study methods to improve the race for our participants,” said Bob Bryant, President and CEO, 500 Festival. “By using this staggered starting method, the pack will be spread out and allow every runner or walker to settle into their race pace from the start to the finish line, as well as allow safety and race officials better access along the route.

Registration for the 2014 OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon is currently open. By registering before the November 30 Early Bird Deadline, participants can save $15. The race has sold out for the past 12 consecutive years. For more information or to make the commitment for 2014, visit www.IndyMini.com.